Boost Alcohol

[kevinlassen]

I have a Irish stout kit that came with my brewing kit from Midwest. I was wondering what I could do to get a few extra % out if it.

Thanks y'all.

 

[Glynn]

add more extract, but beware that it will change the flavor profile of the beer.

 

[user 144271]

or just add dextrose to get more abv% I think this will not change the flavor as much

 

[kevinlassen]

Will the dextrose "thin" the body? I want to keep it pretty think. Well as think as it would normally be. The last stout that I made had very little body to it. I'm just a little worried about messing it up.

 

[LovesIPA]

Next time I would recommend Midwest's Big Honkin' Stout. Mine came out to 7.3% ABV and I received so many compliments on it that I'm going to brew it again soon.

I also added .75 oz of Columbus at the beginning of the boil and it had a strong bitterness. People compared it to coffee - black and bitter.

 

[kevinlassen]

I didn't buy it. It was a gift.

 

[rklinck]

Adding dextrose will thin it out. My suggestion would be to brew this recipe as it is and then get bigger kits in the future. It is nearly impossible to add ABV without altering the taste in significant ways. Adding more malt will make the beer taste stronger (aside from adding alcohol) because you are essentially changing the ratio of water to everything else. Adding any sugar will tend to thin the flavor out because it will lead to higher attenuation.

If you are set on changing this to get more alcohol, maybe add more malt, extra hops, and some sugar. Adding more malt and hops should make the beer taste stronger, while adding sugar will thin it out.

 

[kevinlassen]

Adding dextrose will thin it out. My suggestion would be to brew this recipe as it is and then get bigger kits in the future. It is nearly impossible to add ABV without altering the taste in significant ways. Adding more malt will make the beer taste stronger (aside from adding alcohol) because you are essentially changing the ratio of water to everything else. Adding any sugar will tend to thin the flavor out because it will lead to higher attenuation.

If you are set on changing this to get more alcohol, maybe add more malt, extra hops, and some sugar. Adding more malt and hops should make the beer taste stronger, while adding sugar will thin it out.

thank you.. that is real good infromation.. i will just make it as is like you suggested.. i was also thinking about adding some chocolate when i do my boil.. would you suggest just cocoa powder or maybe hot cocoa mix? or just go old chocolate chips or bar? i would use dark chocolate if i added "real" chocoate

 

[Shooter]

thank you.. that is real good infromation.. i will just make it as is like you suggested.. i was also thinking about adding some chocolate when i do my boil.. would you suggest just cocoa powder or maybe hot cocoa mix? or just go old chocolate chips or bar? i would use dark chocolate if i added "real" chocoate

Hmm, your definition of making it "as is" doesn't really match mine...

 

[kevinlassen]

I know. I can never leave things alone.

 

[m_stodd]

Disclaimer: I'm a noob

Use less water. Depending on how much less water you use, you may want to use less hops and less steeping grains as well.

Beer - some water = stronger beer

 

[rklinck]

I don't add other stuff to my beer, but I think most people who want to add chocolate flavor to a stout actually use cocoa nibs in a secondary fermenter.

 

[BrewMasta]

AHS sells ABV booster packs which are essentially 1 lb of extra dextrose, they claim it dose not alter your flavor, and no recipe modifications are needed to accommodate adding it. I consistently use it as I like higher ABV beers, and high ABV beer kits cost a lot, so I just kick down for the $1.99 ABV booster option. You can also add up to a pound of regular table sugar to boost. Each one of these options should increase any kit by just under 1% ABV. Honey at the end of the boil can also add fermentables, I guess it depends on what your brewing. AHS offers these boosters on all their kits.

 

[Brewskii]

AHS sells ABV booster packs which are essentially 1 lb of extra dextrose, they claim it dose not alter your flavor, and no recipe modifications are needed to accommodate adding it. I consistently use it as I like higher ABV beers, and high ABV beer kits cost a lot, so I just kick down for the $1.99 ABV booster option. You can also add up to a pound of regular table sugar to boost. Each one of these options should increase any kit by just under 1% ABV. Honey at the end of the boil can also add fermentables, I guess it depends on what your brewing. AHS offers these boosters on all their kits.

That's not just Dextrose (which is fully fermentable and will make a beer dry); the Alcohol boost at AHS is also maltose which is not fermentable and carries through to the finished beer to give it body. It's a standard mix and, therefore a compromise that is meant to add 1% ABV to a 5 gal batch but also not completely wreck a beers profile. It's a compromise to be sure, but better than adding pure dextrose or honey to boost if you want to maintain the profile of the original.

 

[wes_1696]

I use light Belgian candy sugar 1# adds 1% and doesn't really change to much to the flavor profile.

 

[KarlHungus76]

If you want to offset the thinning out adding the sugar will result in. Perhaps some
Lactose (think milk stout) or perhaps some rolled oats mashed to increase mouthfeel/body. Good luck!

 

[DPBISME]

You might not end up with the beer you were trying for since any addition suger (not malt) will lighten the beer.

Any addtional malt with change the flavor.

I would use that money you want to spend on more Alcohol and brew another batch of a beer that calls for higher Alcohol.

 

[Beergazzi]

I have that same kit in primary, and I added a mini-mash to the front end consisting of a lb of 2 row, .5 lbs oats, and the specialty grains included in the kit, should be worth .5% abv and more body. Its slowly fermenting, 3 weeks, still creeping down. ABV is around 4.7 now, gunning for 5.1

 

[grem135]

So this is your first brew? If so then leave it alone and use this batch to get used to the process. You will stress enough just doing it "as is".

 

[mjdonnelly68]

Leave it alone and drink twice as much.

 

[petey_c]

thank you.. that is real good infromation.. i will just make it as is like you suggested.. i was also thinking about adding some chocolate when i do my boil.. would you suggest just cocoa powder or maybe hot cocoa mix? or just go old chocolate chips or bar? i would use dark chocolate if i added "real" chocoate

kevlass, Do some research here as to the pros and cons of which type of chocolate to add. My last double choc stout, I added bakers unsweetened dark chocolate and then back sweetened with 1 lb. of lactose. I made a AHS (Austin Home Brew) Guinnness Foreign Extra Stout which worked out to about 7.5% ABV. Then I added the 1% booster. The alcohol taste was too much for the beer. I drank it anyway so as not to offend the beer gods. Good luck, Pete

 

[kevinlassen]

So this is your first brew? If so then leave it alone and use this batch to get used to the process. You will stress enough just doing it "as is".

No it's not my first. It was free. My old roommate got me my own kit as a going away present (moved from Michigan to Virginia). It came in the kit and I just wanted to know what I could do to it to get more abv. Then after reading how dextrose and sugar will think it out I thought about adding chocolate to it.
I'm just goin to make it per the direction and then tinker around with something else in a few weeks.